Tag Archives: Horror

Top Five Spooky Ghost Stories for the Winter Season (Part Two)

17 Dec

Kwaidan (1964) - Ghost StoriesBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

In part two, some ghost stories take advantage of the season more so than a specific day to deliver the chills. This list of ghostly tales considers how the land is ready to rebel against the wayfarer. 

Fighting the Wendigo isn’t tough, but rather is in why hasn’t it terrorized humanity sooner? There’s also the Yeti to consider, but those films involving a monster of the North or icy tundra are a dime a dozen. In keeping to the spirit, only shades are considered in this list:

Kwaidan “The Woman in the Snow” (1965)

This anthology series has one stand out for the season. The Woman in the Snow is about a woodcutter who meets an icy spirit. He would’ve been killed, but made a promise to not say a thing to anyone else about her. The chills are truly delivered when he forgets his promise ten years later…

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Counting Down the 12 Days to a Comic Book Style Christmas

11 Dec

Harvey Kurtzman's Marley's Ghost (comiXology Originals) by [Harvey Kurtzman, Josh O'Neill, Shannon Wheeler, Gideon Kendall]By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Counting down the twelve days to Christmas is easy. Deciding on what to read on each day is tougher. In what I present is a list of what I’m excited about getting under the tree–should Santa be reading. This catalog is varied, as I have a lot of interests and a few are upgrades from the digital copy I have already.

I also have a few seasonal bits to get me into the spirit of the holiday, and the rest are not just for encyclopaedic reference.  

Most are are available to order on Amazon USA for those interested in obtaining for the fussy nerd on their gift giving list. Disclaimer: sales made through the links provided go into maintaining this blog.

Harvey Kurtzman’s Marley’s Ghost
ComiXology

This Eisner Award winner of 2018 is simply described as holiday magic, according to New York Magazine, and I’m inclined to agree. It’s a posthumous completion of legendary creator Harvey Kurtzman’s adaptation of the classic Charles Dickens’ novel. The idea took more than a half century to realise, and the reason is perhaps lost to time. The reason why this work matters is that this creator of MAD Magazine is considered one of the most influential creators of the sequential art format, and no list can be complete without some work referencing this seminal classic for the season. Plus, it appeases the paranormal enthusiast in me!

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Terror and Sci-Fi Persist in Portal Runner

9 Dec

Portal Runner (2021) - IMDbKairos Productions and Terror Films

VOD Release Date:
Dec 10, 2021

Not to be confused with the videogame of the same name, Portal Runner is an intriguing tale of sci-fi terror hell bent on making Christmas for Nolan’s family miserable. This boy (Sloane Morgan Siegel) is sometimes home alone and sometimes not. He can make use of mirrors (charged by a strange quantum device) to hop into a parallel universe. Each is slightly different from the other, and it’s not great when what’s unique in each are exploited.

The holiday theme about families coming together is gently explored in this modestly budgeted film. We see that everything is not always perfect between the 15-year old and his parents.

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The Parapod Isn’t Just A Very British Ghost Hunt, But Also Is An Exercise on Patience

25 Nov

The ParaPod: A Very British Ghost Hunt (2020) - IMDbBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

It’s hard to believe two comedians can embark on The ParaPod: A Very British Ghost Hunt based on their interest in proving and disproving the paranormal. They are not expert ghost hunters because they don’t have established protocols for each place they visit. Well, one of them tries to set some rules down….

The team of Barry Dodds and Ian Boldsworth (who also directs) are better known for their individual work at comedy clubs and the local (fringe) theatre circuit before starting their podcast in 2015. They are a double act. Three years in the making, this mockumentary follows their exploits at trying to outwit instead of convincing the other about the existence of the supernatural. Their success is less about the fun they had together, and more thought-provoking when they look back at all that’s they’ve uncovered.

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Afterthoughts on Ghostbusters: Afterlife

21 Nov

GB2footsc02By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Heavy Spoiler Alert

Not everyone from the original films returned to appear in Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Two characters we didn’t get to see Louis Tully (Rick Moranis) and the other is the titular Slimer. The former is understandable as the actor retired a long time ago, to take care of his kids when his wife sadly passed. Though they’re older now, and Moranis has done a few voice-over roles, to convince him to appear on screen requires more than being friends with Ryan Reynolds or what Sony / Columbia Pictures can offer. 

Regarding why he declined to appear in the 2016 film, “I hope it’s terrific. But it just makes no sense to me. Why would I do just one day of shooting on something I did 30 years ago?” he said to The Hollywood Reporter in 2015. His reasoning can apply to this 2020/21 film (delayed due to the pandemic).

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